Moving From Seoul to Atlanta in 1975: An Interview with My Mother
Q: How do you compare living in Korea to living in America?
A: Everything in America is much bigger. Cars are bigger, houses are bigger, roads are wider, there's really not any open space in Korea, especially Seoul because there are so many people living in Seoul that so many people are crowded into a city that is basically the size of Atlanta.
Q: Did you go through culture shock when you moved to Atlanta?
A: I definitely experienced culture shock. None of the foods I used to have in Korea was available here and there weren't many Koreans living in Atlanta back then. So I basically had to eat any of the Korean food I had at home. Most Korean meals are a bowl of rice with fish or meat or chicken and many, many side dishes that take a lot of time to prepare. Also it was hard to find ingredients in Atlanta which were readily available to us in Korea. So it was very different.
In Korea I walked everywhere because the places I was going to were pretty close together, but in America you have to drive everywhere. Everybody had cars, big, big cars. Supermarkets were very different. In Korea, we were use to shopping in open air, fresh produce markets and butcher shops. In America, there are large supermarkets, so that was very different. We also didn't have shopping malls in Korea, so that was different. Clothes were very different, western clothes. Koreans wear more dressed up clothes even for everyday wear and it is not unusual to see men in suits everyday.
Q: How much of your culture changed when you moved from Seoul to Atlanta?
A: Everything changed. I didn't speak any English when I came to Atlanta and when I went to school I went into 3rd grade, but I was doing 5th grade math because in Korea, math and science are very advanced subjects. But here in The U.S., I didn't speak any English, so I was doing 1st grade reading and writing. So in 3rd grade I was doing 1st grade reading and writing and 5th grade math, so school was very different for me. The foods that I ate, the clothes that I wore, friends that I had were all different. Korea is very homogenous there was just Koreans, but here in the U.S. you have people from so many different races that it was a culture shock to me to see all the different people that came from different parts of the world in one city.
Q: Did you keep any of your Korean culture when you moved here?
A: Yes, we always celebrated the Lunar New Year and we celebrated milestones in people's lives, so both my daughters celebrated 100th day and 1st year birthdays which are significant celebrations in Korean culture. Also, you revered elders, so an older person is thought to be very wise and full of wisdom. There is also traditional clothes that you wear on special occasions in Korea that are called hanbok. There is also a ceremony you perform at the anniversary of the death of your ancestors which is called jae sa.
Q: Is there any culture in America that is the same as in Seoul?
A: I think in America and in Korea there is a huge emphasis on education. A well educated person's status is higher up. There is also a huge push for technology. I think there are more people, percentage wise, that have cell phones in South Korea than any other part of the world. Culturally, there is similar love of music, art, literature, and sports in both cultures.
A: Everything in America is much bigger. Cars are bigger, houses are bigger, roads are wider, there's really not any open space in Korea, especially Seoul because there are so many people living in Seoul that so many people are crowded into a city that is basically the size of Atlanta.
Q: Did you go through culture shock when you moved to Atlanta?
A: I definitely experienced culture shock. None of the foods I used to have in Korea was available here and there weren't many Koreans living in Atlanta back then. So I basically had to eat any of the Korean food I had at home. Most Korean meals are a bowl of rice with fish or meat or chicken and many, many side dishes that take a lot of time to prepare. Also it was hard to find ingredients in Atlanta which were readily available to us in Korea. So it was very different.
In Korea I walked everywhere because the places I was going to were pretty close together, but in America you have to drive everywhere. Everybody had cars, big, big cars. Supermarkets were very different. In Korea, we were use to shopping in open air, fresh produce markets and butcher shops. In America, there are large supermarkets, so that was very different. We also didn't have shopping malls in Korea, so that was different. Clothes were very different, western clothes. Koreans wear more dressed up clothes even for everyday wear and it is not unusual to see men in suits everyday.
Q: How much of your culture changed when you moved from Seoul to Atlanta?
A: Everything changed. I didn't speak any English when I came to Atlanta and when I went to school I went into 3rd grade, but I was doing 5th grade math because in Korea, math and science are very advanced subjects. But here in The U.S., I didn't speak any English, so I was doing 1st grade reading and writing. So in 3rd grade I was doing 1st grade reading and writing and 5th grade math, so school was very different for me. The foods that I ate, the clothes that I wore, friends that I had were all different. Korea is very homogenous there was just Koreans, but here in the U.S. you have people from so many different races that it was a culture shock to me to see all the different people that came from different parts of the world in one city.
Q: Did you keep any of your Korean culture when you moved here?
A: Yes, we always celebrated the Lunar New Year and we celebrated milestones in people's lives, so both my daughters celebrated 100th day and 1st year birthdays which are significant celebrations in Korean culture. Also, you revered elders, so an older person is thought to be very wise and full of wisdom. There is also traditional clothes that you wear on special occasions in Korea that are called hanbok. There is also a ceremony you perform at the anniversary of the death of your ancestors which is called jae sa.
Q: Is there any culture in America that is the same as in Seoul?
A: I think in America and in Korea there is a huge emphasis on education. A well educated person's status is higher up. There is also a huge push for technology. I think there are more people, percentage wise, that have cell phones in South Korea than any other part of the world. Culturally, there is similar love of music, art, literature, and sports in both cultures.